Calls for massive overhaul of 'amateurish' Civil Service

Last updated at 17:50 07 August 2006

The Civil Service is under-performing, with weak leadership, inadequate professional skills and a lack of effective accountability, according to a new report.

A survey by the Institute for Public Policy Research - a centre-left think tank - found that a culture of "amateurism" still prevailed at the top of Whitehall, with mandarins resistant to modern management methods.

It called for a massive overhaul of the way the Civil Service is run, with the creation of a powerful new head of the service able to sack senior officials who were not up to scratch.

"Despite its qualities, the Civil Service is under-performing in key respects. It is often ineffective in carrying out its core functions of policy design and operational delivery," the report said.

"Too much Whitehall activity is undermined by its inability to work effectively across departmental boundaries; by a narrow skills-base; and under-developed leadership.

The report - based on interviews with 65 Whitehall "stakeholders" including 40 senior civil servants and eight ministers - said that despite efforts to bring in outside expertise, mobility both in and out of the service remained "limited".

"Amateurism still too often prevails, reflecting a skills gene pool that is too narrow. Management and delivery expertise, in particular, are still lacking," it said.

At the root of the problem, the report said, were the "anachronistic and severely inadequate" constitutional conventions governing relations between the Civil Service, ministers, Parliament and the public.

"They have become a recipe for ambiguity, confusion, weak leadership and buck-passing," it said.

"Together, these conventions entail that relations between ministers and civil servants are ill-defined, and their respective roles and responsibilities unclear."